This Mess We're In
by Sundarii
Summary: Time stops for a minute as she watches the bubbles containing her last breath rise up to the surface. Dark. [ Neji x Hina ]


This Mess We're In

I just really wanted to write, especially while listening to this song. So listen to This Mess We're In by PJ Harvey and Thom Yorke, and read, and enjoy, and then review! (PS This is also un-betaed, because I just really wanted to get this out of my system immediately so sorry!)

I don't know what this should be rated. Since the people are pretty messed up I think I'll rate this an M. Also, I in no way endorse unhealthy relationships. Just so you know.

Onwards!

**Disclaimer: **Ugh. I don't own Naruto. God.

--

_Night and day,  
I dream of making love to you now baby  
Love making on screen,  
Impossible dream  
And I have seen the sunrise over the river  
The freeway reminds me of_

_This mess we're in_

-PJ Harvey ft. Thom Yorke, _This Mess We're In_

--

The sunset glimmers off of Konoha River. The pinkish golden rays sparkle magnificently and Hinata dips a toe peacefully into the river, disturbing the surface flow gently. She shudders delicately; the water is freezing, despite the warm weather. Slowly, she swirls the small digit around, creating dozens of ripples, sending reflections of the sky in all directions. Hinata shuts her eyes tightly as she puts an entire foot in, shuddering as the coldness of the water seeps into the core of her body. She pauses for a split second, and then with the same staunch determination she'd become famous for, she takes a large, life-threatening step into the fast waters.

_Will you come running, like the scared child you are?_

With a few steady, large steps, Hinata's scarred wrists submerge beneath the murky surface.

_I hope you don't._

With another step, Hinata is waist-deep in the water.

_This is going to hurt you much more than it would ever hurt me._

The quick currents pull her down, down underneath. Hinata cannot fight her body's natural reaction to clamor for air, but she gladly welcomes the pain as her lungs begin to burn. The pressure builds and builds and finally the young woman can no longer keep the air in; she lets out a huge breath.

Time stops for a minute as she watches the bubbles containing her last breath rise up to the surface.

The same time that had moved so slowly before quickens with a ferocious speed. Hinata gasps, inhaling a mouthful of water. Coughs and chokes for air are immediately cut off by the surrounding waters. The pain of the liquid quickly filling her lungs slowly ebbs away at Hinata's consciousness but not before she can vaguely feel something pushing her up.

_I hate you._

Her tears easily are lost to the water.

--

She feels his unmistakable lips on hers. Without even being fully conscious, Hinata easily recognizes the chapped lips breathing life back into her body. She coughs with a jerk and turns to her side, throwing up water previously lodged in her lungs.

"You are," she hears him hiss, "The most foolish woman I have ever met."

"Neji," she greets weakly, not looking at him.

He quickly crosses what little distance there is between them and shakes her roughly. "What the _fuck_ is wrong with you?" he snarls hoarsely. All his inhibitions are gone. For a split second she thinks he's going to hit her. He's never been this angry.

_Good._

His grip on her tightens and Hinata shuts her eyes and lets out a pained whimper. Neji stops his shaking and instead grasps her arms tightly, as if intending to never let go.

"Were you scared?" she taunts quietly, still weak from the near drowning. With another set of raspy coughs, she turns onto her stomach and expels more water from her lungs.

He punches a neat, deep hole into the soft grass a half a millimeter away from her head.

_"GOD DAMNIT!" _he roars.

Hinata can hear his harsh, uneven breath come out in puffs next to her ear. "Do you think this is _funny_, Hinata-sama?"

"Get off of me," she rasps.

He turns her over on to her back, and angrily pins her arms to the ground, shoving a knee between her legs. Hinata doesn't bother to struggle, knowing it to be futile.

Neji brings his face closer to hers. "You did this on purpose."

She stares at him tiredly, her white gaze revealing nothing.

"Tell me," he snaps.

Silence.

"Tell me!" he erupts violently.

When Hinata doesn't answer, Neji grinds his teeth audibly.

"I am going to take you back home," he says with a tight jaw. The veins near his eyes bulge, even without the seals to activate them. "You are going to heal. And then you are going to tell me _everything._"

And, without waiting for a response, he sends a barely restrained blast of chakra through her temple, knocking her out completely. Hinata goes limp and he easily scoops her up into his arms. Manhandling her comes as a second nature to Neji. She was his, an obsession he would never—could never—relinquish. He would follow her life after life if it meant she would be within his reach.

He knows his possessiveness destroys her. This is the second time she has attempted to end her life. But Neji cannot possibly back down; he would never; the thought of another man even touching Hinata sends Neji into fits of jealousy. No one else would ever have the right, so long as he was living, to touch her. Images of a writhing, gasping Hinata—a happier, younger Hinata—flash across his mind and his grip on the unconscious kunoichi tightens painfully. She will have bruises when she wakes up. Neji can overlook them. She will forgive him, with time.

Neji looks at her falsely peaceful face, and then to the deep knife scars embedded in her wrists. He wants to apologize for his rash actions, he does, but he can't. He won't, not when it keeps her close to him.

He will never give her up, not even to herself.

-

--

-

So…yeah. Sorry it's short, I just thought it was a good place to stop. I intended on resolving this piece, but honestly I think their problems are waaay too deep for me to solve them in a few pages.

Tell me what you think! :-)


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